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Hosting Meetups with applicants from countries with slow internet connections.

Recently I’ve been focusing my meetup orientation efforts on meetups from other African countries. Depending on the internet connectivity in different parts of Africa, than can and has led to some frustrating orientations, where either I or the applicant have to try out different options to connect.

I thought therefore that it might be useful to update the deputy documentation related to meetup orientations with a section on internet connectivity.

Firstly, my suggestions for a process to follow with regards to internet connectivity:

At some point during the process, determine the applicant’s internet connectivity.

If the applicant indicates their connection is slow, suggest two quick tests, one on Hangouts and one on Skype. Tests not to take more than a few minutes.

If both tests fail, suggest a text only option. Suggest this is done using the WordPress.org Slack, as the applicant will be adding themselves to Slack soon anyway.

The text option can be handled in pretty much the same way as a regular orientation.

Then a few questions on the above:

Does it make sense to ask all meetup applicants what their internet connectivity is like. This might help the person planning the orientation to decide on the best course of action earlier. I find that even if you ask the applicant to suggest alternatives to Hangouts, they don’t. So perhaps a more specific question could be added to the process.

At what point should we ask this. My thought is once the applicant has been approved for an orientation, it might be useful to ask them whether they use video conferencing tools like Hangouts or Skype up front. Their answers to this might provide better insight as to what path to take.

Should the tests be part of the meetup orientation, or scheduled beforehand? If the person running the meetup does them beforehand, and they have a few orientations to deal with, they could for example bundle all those with good connections into a group call and the rest into a group text.

Questions/comments and suggestions are welcome. If we agree this will be a useful document to add to the deputy documentation, I’d like to draft the first version of the document/process on 1 March 2018.

+1 on Zoom both because it seems to work much better than Skype for people on phone connections and because it’s just easier: you send the person a link and s/he clicks it. Voice, video, chat, screen-sharing–use whichever of them you require.

We do have a paid WordCamp Central Zoom account (so unlimited time with unlimited people on the call) – deputies can make use of that for orientations if needed.

I’ve used Zoom a whole lot and it’s great, but my only hesitation with using it for this use case is that it requires everyone to install the Zoom desktop app. I know the app is free and small, but it’s still an extra bit of friction in the process and, if they already have slow internet, waiting for them to download and install an app could just waste even more time. Maybe that’s not a hugely valid concern though.

If we are talking tools, check https://appear.in/ too. I used it couple of times and it worked like a charm (surely better than Hangouts/Skype, not sure if better than Zoom but it works from the browser). Downside of a free plan is max 4 participants at a time, but other than that it’s a good tool.

Disclaimer: I’m not overly familiar with the orientation workflow these days, so these comments should be taken as comments, not guidance.

1. Does it make sense to ask all meetup applicants what their internet connectivity is like. This might help the person planning the orientation to decide on the best course of action earlier. I find that even if you ask the applicant to suggest alternatives to Hangouts, they don’t. So perhaps a more specific question could be added to the process.

I’d definitely agree asking all meetup applicants about their connectivity makes sense. It’s a good question to ask rather than having assumptions about.

I’d also second Ulrich’s and Sallie’s suggestion to use zoom. Even if applicants may have used other VoIP apps, zoom is so straightforward and resource-friendly that I think it’s worth introducing early on.

2. At what point should we ask this. My thought is once the applicant has been approved for an orientation, it might be useful to ask them whether they use video conferencing tools like Hangouts or Skype up front. Their answers to this might provide better insight as to what path to take.

Since we’re supposed to provide orientation, I’d suggest to keep things as clear as possible at the beginning of the process, introduce zoom as the tool we use, then point them to a helpful resource like the FAQ article on how to join a meeting.

I think you’re right trying to keep the door open to alternatives, however, I’d rather mention alternatives to VoIP/zoom in general (like the text messaging you mention later). Afaik zoom is the most performant tool we know of, so imo it wouldn’t make sense for us to suggest potentially slower, more data-draining apps.

3. Should the tests be part of the meetup orientation, or scheduled beforehand? If the person running the meetup does them beforehand, and they have a few orientations to deal with, they could for example bundle all those with good connections into a group call and the rest into a group text.

Sounds like a plan, I’d vote for handling any tests beforehand! 😀
Afaik it just takes a meeting ID to join a zoom meeting. They may or may not need to install a browser extension, or a little app. They can even join a test meeting. All of that info can be provided beforehand, so they can test if their connection allows for VoIP. If it doesn’t, there still is text.

I’d only suggest to keep in mind that Slack tends to behave a bit like a moron in terms of minimum requirements. I once had to rely on an older, low-tier smartphone during WCEU, and Slack rendered entirely unusable, probably because of insufficient CPU. It just wouldn’t load! I was not able to connect with other volunteers, even though I had sufficient data and connectivity.

So while it’s true that applicants need to join Slack sooner or later, it could be helpful to provide an alternative (like WhatsApp, or Signal) for the text messaging option in the beginning.

Thank you for your comments and suggestions, I do think the use of the test meeting is a great idea, it can easily be included into the orientation scheduling workflow.

My thoughts on Slack as a text based option is that it can be installed as an app on the applicants computer/laptop or accessed via a browser. I did not think of applicants connecting via mobile devices, so I’m glad you bring that up.

It actually brings up another topic, in that I feel like it might be useful to ask applicants to join the Making Slack before the orientation anyway, as this will provide a direct means of communication should the hangouts/skype/zoom option not go well, rather than trying to figure out where the text/chat option is in whatever tool we’re using. If the applicant is asked to join Slack before the actual orientation they can easily connect with the orientation host before or during the meeting.

i usually try HO, Skype, slack and on one time with someone we do like 5 min voice and we jump in to a chat. I know a visual or voice call is very important for most of us, but at some point is not accessible for every one. So chats or emails should be a valid method too. As we are a remote community using just video or voice make us not fully accessible not just for someone with disabilities but also to users with slow internet conection.

What do we think about, instead of requiring each organizer applicant to attend an orientation, offering the opportunity to take the meetup handbook quizzes as an alternative, and then scheduling a synchronous text chat to discuss any questions the applicant might have?

Community Deputy Program

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